Friday, April 19, 2013

An initiative of Umesh Kulkarni and Girish Kulkarni and their productions, Arbhaat Nirmitee, Arbhaat Short Film Club was launched today at the NFAI amongst a star studded audience.

The three films that were show today simply left me spellbound.

The first was the iconic short film made by Mani Kaul, Before my eyes. The beauty of the images, the compelling sounds! Umesh described it as a film to be 'experienced', and rightly so. Nancy Lesh Kulkarni, the cellist from the movie was present for the inauguration today. Her cello in the film is a beautifully haunting sound that merges seamlessly into the seemingly still vistas of Kashmir.

The second film was 'Three of Us', directed by Umesh Kulkarni. I loved this short film. Indeed, I could think about nothing else for the rest of the day and I think that it will continue to haunt me.

The third and the final was 'Kaatal', the short film that recently won many national awards. It is seemingly casual, but the stills, the cinematography is wonderful and the rocks and the landscapes become a character in themselves.

A movie - and indeed any book or novel too - does not need to have a conclusive, clear end. It is only a glimpse in the lives of the characters and even though it is a story in itself, it does not need to have an end. Just because one does not understand or approve of a particular end does not mean that it is bad. The motive of any work (literary, cinematic or otherwise) is to provoke thoughts. If you keep thinking about it, if it lives in your thoughts, the director has been successful. The gist of the story matters not. All that matters that you got it.